Editorial: High court looks at marriage

Well, that made the Indiana General Assembly's decision on a constitutional ban on gay marriage a little easier - for now.

Or at least it should have made it easier.

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The cases are expected to be heard in March. Rulings could come by late June.

Among the questions to be decided:

? Can gay and lesbian married couples be kept from federal benefits that opposite-sex spouses qualify to get?

? And - here's the real kicker for Indiana - can states ban gay marriage?

Indiana already has gone down that road, saying that the only marriages allowed in the state are those between one man and one woman.

But Indiana also is halfway toward a statewide referendum that would ask voters whether the gay marriage ban should be included in the Indiana Constitution.

A constitutional vote first requires action in two consecutive legislatures. The first step has happened. The General Assembly has the 2013 or 2014 sessions to take a second vote.

State leaders had been shuffling their feet on the matter, saying they weren't sure whether they would take up the constitutional ban question in the 2013 session or just wait a year.

The Supreme Court's new schedule should solve that problem. There's no sense in anything but sitting back this year and watching the high court.

The only other option that makes more sense is to agree to set aside the entire constitutional ban idea for good.

Having a law that says the state doesn't allow same-sex marriage is one thing. Dropping that law into the constitution is moral protectionism that tells the world just about everything it needs to know about Indiana. And that's just backward.

Don't wait for the Supreme Court decision. Let it go now, lawmakers.

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Editorial: High court looks at marriage

Well, that made the Indiana General Assembly's decision on a constitutional ban on gay marriage a little easier ? for now. Or at least it should have made it easier. On Friday, the U.S.